Firing the professor is far harsher punishment than the Church metes out to priests who repeatedly rape children. When such priests are ‘laicized,’ the Church continues to provide paychecks as well as housing. The scholar gets nothing, and prospects for a Catholic theologian outside of Catholic institutions are bleak.

I’ve previously commented on the failure of Pope Francis’ attempt to quash Nigerian priests. Their flock protected them. But Catholic scholars have no flock to protect them, so the Pope is free to victimize them.